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Anthem MRX 1120 11.2-Channel AV Receiver Reviewed

A few months ago, I bought the Anthem AVM-60 hometheater preamp. It was my first piece of Anthem equipment and one that had a lot to live up to, given the company's history. I am really pleased with the AVM-60, especially the ARC room correction software and the unit's ability to handle not only movies, but music as well.

I knew that Dennis Burger had it in line to review for HomeTheaterReview, but I had no idea he would review the company's flagship receiver too.

At a glance, the MRX 1120 looks a lot like my AVM-60. In fact spec-wise, it's nearly identical, The big difference is it sports 11 channels of amplification, under the hood. Here are the MRX 1120's features at a glance.

11.2 Pre-Amplifier & 11 Amplifier Channels

Dolby Atmos®

DTS:X™ Ready

ARC™ Anthem Room Correction

4 Speaker Profile Memories

Quad Core Digital Signal Processing

Two Sub Out Jacks (parallel)

Premium 32-bit / 768 kHz Differential-Output D/A Converters

Wireless Network Connection

DTS Play-Fi® – Local and Streaming

HDMI & Video

HDMI 2.0a

HDCP 2.2

4:4:4 Subsampling at 4K60 (18.2 Gbps)

High Dynamic Range (HDR)

BT.2020 Color Gamut

On-Screen Display with 4K 50/60

4K 50/60 Switching

The amp section is rated, as most AVR manufacturers do, for two channels - 140 watts into 8 ohms with two channels driven. However, they go further to list that the remaining channels will output 60 watts. The main left and right channels are Class AB amplification, where the remaining channels are driven by Class D amps. It has slightly higher ratings for 6 ohms and it is even rated for 4 ohm speakers, which is a feat that most AVRs do not do that well.

Dennis' review was glowing, to say the least, giving the piece five stars for performance and slightly less for value. At a MSRP of $3499, it's not going to be one of the least expensive AVRs on the market. However, value isn't strictly all about the price.

I'm really enjoying it. I like ARC much better than the Audyssey that my Marantz AV 7005 had, but it wasn't the same version that was included with their later preamps. Maybe that was part of the difference, but the Anthem also seems to have better DACs for music.

I found it really easy to set up. If I had to knock it, I would say the lack of at least one Composite Video or at least RGB for older video sources might be an issue for some......like those of us who still use a Wii on occasion. However, I bet there is some way to adapt it to HDMI.

Also, the IR blasters on the remote don't seem to be very strong. I use an IR repeater since my equipment is in a closet behind my seating area. I have issues, sitting at 16 feet, controlling the AVM-60 with the OEM remote.

Yeah...the lack of backwards compatibility could be an issue for some, but it makes the rear panel much more neat looking and not as cluttered. If I hadn't already bought the Marantz, the Anthem would be on my short list of products to get. I'm really interested to see what Krell's Atmos processor brings to the table, but it's probably out of my budget!

Yeah...the lack of backwards compatibility could be an issue for some, but it makes the rear panel much more neat looking and not as cluttered. If I hadn't already bought the Marantz, the Anthem would be on my short list of products to get. I'm really interested to see what Krell's Atmos processor brings to the table, but it's probably out of my budget!

One could also argue that the lack of a phono input is a detractor, but you have to draw the line somewhere.

I haven't heard anything about a new Krell preamp. Is this an update to the 4K Krell Foundation or a new pre/pro?

Next year you better have Atmos and DTS:X or you'll be left behind in the A/V arms race

Have you read any research about how well Atmos is taking off on the home theater front? I would love to implement it in my room but fear my low ceiling would make it impractical.

Given how 5.1 seems to still be what most people are going with, I wondered how popular adding the additional channels was right now. More speakers, more amps, and more complicated installation makes it not for everyone.

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